Santa on cards - Merry Christmas !

Jolly old Santa Claus is not the main focus of this holiday, but he has been a major player during the season for many, many years. There have been many renditions of him through the years, and here are a few.

What ever you are celebrating this time of year, may you and your family be safe and enjoy the time together.

As for me,

Jesus is the reason for the season !

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all !!

Secret Santa came !

At least I think it's my Secret Santa !
The return address says " Sanity Clause", from Acworth, Ga.
That must be Santa's summer home, 'cause everyone knows he lives at the North Pole.
The little kid in me ripped open the box and right on top was a note saying "don't open your stocking until Christmas". Oh man !! I can't wait, I have to see what's inside.

But I handed the box to my wife and she peeked inside.

Mrs. BB Dad : Plastic bags.
Baseball Dad : I got plastic bags !!??

She continued to dig through the bags and suddenly said,

Mrs. BB Dad : "I think the stocking is part of the gift !"
Baseball Dad : Cool, let me see it !
Mrs. BB Dad : No, you have to wait !!

Sigh !! Ok, under the tree it goes.
( living room is under construction, bare drywall and lack of door frame trim )

So here it sits until Sunday morning. Santa's little helper is keeping a close eye on it, pointing and saying " Don't open 'till Christmas !"

I'm dying here, but I'll wait !

Here's a better shot of the base of my Baseball Christmas tree. There's a lot of Christmassy baseball stuff available, when you really look around !

Getting ready for next week-end !

I haven't had much time for posting lately. We've been preparing for the upcoming holidays.

This is my new baseball Christmas tree. I have always had a small one on top of computer desk in the past, but this year I upgraded to 3' one. I added a few more Pacific ornaments to my collection via ebay. I could probably get them all but I refuse to pay the $5.00 to $15.00 some sellers want !

I have my "Secret Santa" gift ready to send out. I don't think the recipient is a regular reader of this blog, but maybe he will be !!

I have a whole box full of trades to be posted and I will get to them. I'm also working on my New Year blog resolutions. Hopefully 2012 will be an exciting year for everyone.

Gotta' keep ahead of dayf or, Was it worth breaking my Topps set?

A couple days ago dayf was showing off the Chief Wahoo sketch card he sent me. He did a great job on it and I appreciate it very much ! He was also comparing the two of us as having a desk full of trade packages, and he was right. At least about me ! So I'm about to lay it all out on the table, literally !

So take note dayf, my desk is clear !!!

And, was it worth breaking up my anniversary set ?

Yeah,Baby !!

Actually, some of these packages came by way of other trades and group breaks, but most are from trading team sets from my Topps anniversary gift set. You can see dayf's work, middle row, second from the bottom.

Right above dayf's sketch card is a Bob Feller manu patch from Kyle at Juuust a bit outside.
He got a rookie refractor. More on that later.

The two big heads came from a group break via David at Tribe Cards.

The upper right corner lot came from A Cardboard Problem. Marie is always sending me great stuff ! She sent mini boxes from Topps Triple Threads and Topps Marquee ! Of course they were empty ! They're really neat and will go well with my wrapper collection.

The bottom right corner was my take in Thorzul Will Rule's november group break.

The rest is from my team break.

I still have five team sets left for trade :

Arizona

Florida

Kansas City

Oakland

Seattle

Don't worry folks, all thirteen trades here will get their own trade post and thanks.

I also have six more trade packages going into the mail tomorrow. So if I owe you something, watch your mailbox next week !

So, keep writing, keep trading and keep having fun !!!

The Ultimate Super Jumbo Pack ! Baseball Edition

Could you pass this up ?

How could anyone pass this up ?

With words like "Ultimate Super Jumbo" ?

Well, this is one of the latest repack options. Dollar Store style. 30 cards, in a clear plastic pack, so you can at least see the top card you're getting.
That's what caught my eye. The sepia toned, old timey looking card peeking through the wrapper. I didn't recognize the set that it came from, so I tried to move the cards around inside the pack. Yes, I admit it. I'm a pack searcher ! But all I could see was a small logo in the corner that said something about "Baseball Immortals". Well, now I was hooked. I had to find some more. I found another with Honus Wagner on the top. His head was cut off !! I had to see what that was all about. All in all, I found five packs with these sepia colored cards on top. Were they worth the five bucks ? Well, let's see !

According to the back of the pack, I can send in four wrappers and $3.99 to receive a bonus autographed trading card. Woo hoo! Note, it doesn't specifically say baseball card. I'll have to think about that one.

Here's what got me excited. George Edward "Rube" Waddell. He was a very peculiar character.If you are not familiar with Rube and his antics, you may want to research him a little.

The card is from a Sporting News set produced in 1986. This one is #'d 35/60, of 12,000 Limited Edition sets. The set was issued in conjunction with the exhibition " The immortals ", the photography of Charles Colon 1903 - 1935, at the National Portrait Gallery Smithsonian Institute.

And now, "the rest of the pack".
Mostly what you would expect in a repack.

Quite a variety of sets and years with a few names thrown in that I had heard of before.

I do like the shot of Howard Johnson on his All-Star card.

The " Bagman " ! Not a bad card.

And here's one for my sample collection. A 1995 Donruss Press Proof.

I think the oldest card in the pack, a slightly used 1977 Topps Chet Lemon.

Not really too bad for a buck. I don't know about the packs without a Sporting News card on top though.

These are some of the "highlights" of the rest of the packs.

The other four Sporting News cards.The one of "Headless Honus" was showing and explaining his unusual grip. I would have cropped it just a little more !

Four Tribe cards, including a 1994 Topps Jim Thome ! That was a surprise.

Even some shiny chrome and Orel with a stick ! How about that one Night Owl ?

Arthur Rhodes still in the minors.

Leaf 50th anniversary and Metal Universe.

Finally, Goose with his mustache and Oil Can Boyd, nice shot there.

Well, there you have it. If you could see all the cards, would you have paid $5.00 for all these cards in a stack (150 total) at a card show? I may have, for the Sporting News cards. I can always use more trade fillers too. BTW, anything here is available, with the exception of the Sporting News cards and the Donruss Press Proof.

Three years ago today ....

.... there was this post.

I owe my start to my youngest son Andy. I was reading his blog and thought "This seems like fun!" And it was.

I didn't have a clue as to what I was getting into !

I looked back at some of my first posts and thought " Did I really write this?".

I have learned to handle pictures much better. My early posts were really a mangled mess.

But I feel I'm learning and improving and hope to continue as long as my mind will let me. My Mother, rest her soul, was in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's. I'll be 61 in a couple weeks and I sometimes wonder about myself. My memory seems to be slipping away. I'll be 61 in a couple weeks and I sometimes wonder about myself.

Seriously, I have really enjoyed the blogging scene and making all the friends. Even though I have only actually met a couple of you in person, everyone seems like old friends and family. And it seems like new ones pop up almost every day.

My goal for this winter is to get my cards more organized so I can find cards that you need and hopefully trade them for ones I need. I also need to get better want lists written up and I would like to post a little more often. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions on how to make my blog better or more appealing, please feel free to comment ! You won't hurt my feelings.

So I want thank all of you who may read this, and hope that you will continue to do so. I also hope to win over some new ones in the coming years.

Keep collecting, posting and spreading the word that this hobby is NOT just for kids but we do need to get back the interest of the younger set. We need to show them how much fun it can be, so the hobby will continue to prosper and grow.

Enough of this rambling for tonight, us old folks need our rest!

Good night and God Bless .

Hell on Wheels

Basic training, Fort Campbell, Ky.

As a squad leader during artillary training at Fort Sill, Ok., I knew I would be joining the 2 nd Armored Division - "Hell on Wheels ".

My new uniform of the day !

Loading the 105. The large projectile could travel as far as 7 miles with a full charge.

Quad 50's. 50 caliber machine gun fire at night.

Adding on to our quarters.

We had a kitchen

We had a laundry room.

The limits of my world for a year.Fire Support Base 4 - 11.

http://www.hill4-11.org/indexframes-1.html

Airial shot from a supply chopper.

The roads leading to our base were so heavily mined, all of our food, supplies, mail and other nessesities had to come by helicopter.

Other equipment arrived via the " flying crane ".

Another view of " home".

A rare, quiet break.

Attack on a near by fire base in the middle of the night.

Good morning Vietnam

Fire Support Base 4-11

Duc Pho, Vietnam 1970

My home for a year.

Every morning, for a year, I woke to see the outline of a 105 mm howitzer as the sun rose behind it, and prayed I'd wake up to see it the next day

I know it's basketball but .....

I've mentioned this before.
I love going to thrift stores.
You never know what you might find.
It could be Goodwill.
It could be Salvation Army.
Yesterday, it was Volunteers of America.
This is my wife's favorite thrift store.

This is a 5x7 picture frame I picked up.
I wasn't looking for picture frame.
I didn't need a picture frame.
But they always have plenty of them and I usually look them over.
I did find some nice baseball prints once at Goodwill.
Whoever priced this frame must have been busy talking with a co-worker, daydreaming about the night before or just not paying attention.

Maybe they didn't look to closely at this label on the back.
2004 auction.
Red Cross.
Charity auction ? Probably.
What do they get at charity auctions ?
Donations from celebrities and sports stars ? Sometimes.




This is a very nice little frame. Looks like oak, glass front.
At the front of this store they have a glass case, in a corner with shelving behind it.
That's where they have all the neat things that they think are collectible and people will pay more $$$ for them.




Why this frame wasn't there I'll never know, but I'm glad it wasn't !




Now, I realize Jason Kapono is not a huge NBA star. He is, apparently very good at 3-pointers, but has played for several teams and is currently a free agent.
But this is a FOX Sports Net, Cavalier's Autograph note page with his signature on it. And his rookie card to boot !

I didn't clean the glass yet so you could see the little blue 90, written in crayon or grease pencil or something, on the glass front.

That's what I paid, 90 cents !! For less than a buck I got a framed Cavs auto with his rookie card!

Yeah, it's basketball, I collect baseball, but I couldn't pass this up !

They're baaaack. Oh CRAP !!

These things are my downfall.

They have one code card showing and five chances at getting another.

Oh, how I want that Mantle ring !!

It would look so nice mixed in with my 59 other rings.

Are there even any left out there ?

Topps knows I will buy these, even when I shouldn't.

The box is the same color as the devil himself.

Buy me, buy me !!

Well, I had to get at least one.

5 packs of Topps Update, 1 hobby pack of Bowman Chrome, 1 code card and 1 0f 3 Bryce Harper Chrome Refractors.

At least I got a couple Tribe cards !

We were at a game in Kansas City a couple years ago. Seated right above the Indians bullpen.

Lou Marson threw two balls up to us. Earlier in the game, the coach threw two up. So my wife, both sons and I all got a ball that day.

Two Bowman base cards for the Red Sox and Rays.

Two prospects, both for the Phillies. So much for collation.

The Wagner mini is nice.

A Cy Young or Tris Speaker as an Indian would be nicer !

A Kershaw for Night Owl, if he needs it and another Hosmer for Kyle. (he sent me a very nice Feller manupatch I'll show off at a later date !)

A pair of Dustin Ackleys. A base hit in his first MLB at bat and hit safely in 17 of his first 20 games. Not a bad start.

The sweet swing of Maris, without any enhancements.

Three sparkly sparkle cards of three sparkling players.

The top one being the booze card.

And #BCE 1, Bryce Harper refractor.

I did get one other code card, but neither gave a Mantle ring or a die-cut Carlos Santana!

Maybe the next box .. or the next... or the next....